Penticton added a veteran forward to its ranks today with the acquisition of forward Taylor Sanheim.

The Vees picked up the junior A rights to the 20-year-old from the Portage Terriers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League for Ty Barnstable and future considerations.

Sanheim is from Elkhorn, MB and played 132 games in the Western Hockey League with the Calgary Hitmen, posting 12 goals and 39 assists, a +7 rating, along with 202 penalty minutes. He added a goal and six assists in 22 career WHL playoff games with the Hitmen. Calgary released Sanheim in early December.

Barnstable had four goals and five assists in 34 games with Penticton this season. The 18-year-old is a native of Regina.

The Vees were one over the allowed roster limit of 22 with the addition of Sanheim, so they released 20-year-old defenceman Gabe Bast. Per Penticton’s announcement on the move, the blueliner will sign with the junior B Surrey Knights of the Pacific Junior Hockey League. Bast has only played six games in 2016-17 due to injuries.

As an affiliate player, Bast will be eligible to play ten games with Penticton. Once Surrey’s season is over, he can affiliate an unlimited number of times with the Vees, as long as they don’t have more than six 20-year-old players dressed for any game.

Powell River added an NHL prospect to its roster today, picking up defenceman Matthew Cairns from the US Hockey League’s Fargo Force.

To sign Cairns, the Kings acquired his Canadian junior A rights from the Georgetown Raiders of the Ontario Junior Hockey League. The 18-year-old was chosen by the Edmonton Oilers in the 3rd round, 84th overall in last year’s NHL Entry Draft. He’s committed to Cornell University starting this September.

The Mississauga, ON product had four assists in 17 games with Fargo this season. He posted nine goals and 24 assists in 46 games with Georgetown in 2015-16, plus three goals and 16 assists in 22 OJHL playoff games.

The move puts Powell River over the BCHL roster limit by one, so there should be a corresponding move by the Kings coming soon.

Forward Casey Bailey (Alberni Valley, 2009-11) has been assigned by the Ottawa Senators to Binghamton of the AHL. The Anchorage native has 14 points (nine goals, five assists) in 28 games with the Baby Sens and no points in four games in the NHL this season.

The (short-lived) mystery of what happened to defenseman Braeden Jones (94) is solved as the Trail Smoke Eaters announced today that they’ve traded him to the MJHL’s Portage Terriers for future considerations.

Jones was traded to make room for defenseman Cody Bardock, who the Smokies picked up from Sherwood Park on Thursday.

Jones, from Edmonton, Alberta, scored 3 goals and 9 points in 44 appearances with the Smoke Eaters during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, adding 78 minutes in penalties. The 6’2” blueliner was recruited in the spring of 2012 from the Knights of Columbus midget AAA program.

Jones will join former Smoke Eater defenseman Matt Alexander with Portage. The Terriers will host the 2015 RBC Cup.

The Smoke Eaters would like to thank Braeden for his contributions on and off the ice in our community, and wish him the very best with the Terriers.